ATV Riding in Canada

You CAN Teach an Old Dog New Tricks! Discovering the Canadian Wilderness on an ATV
By Susan Carr, Freelance Writer

October 2006

The author tests her skills on her new ATV.

Canada is renowned for its wilderness beauty. One of the ways many Canadians enjoy the spectacular scenery and wild terrain is by means of an ATV (all terrain vehicle). Up until recently, the thought of taking up this sport as a woman, and as well, one in middle age, really would not have occurred to me, even though I love the outdoors and especially enjoy photographing the timeless and ever changing beauty that surrounds us.

My sons and I recently bought a recreation property in the B.C. Rockies. ATV riders love the area and needless to say the ink was not dry on our property deal before we were exploring the idea of buying an ATV – for the family. Back on the coast, which is where I live, the thought of having an ATV remained strongly on my mind. I knew a few avid ATV riders and asked their advice about ATV riding. Since I knew that it could be a very dangerous sport, I thought it only prudent of me to make inquiries prior to buying one. My friends suggested that I join the ATV/BC Riding club, which is specifically designed for likeminded adventurous people and includes a number of family members. ATV/BC offers organized rides, safety programs and has clubs in most areas of the province. Good idea, or so I thought.

A few weeks later I attended my first club meeting. At this particular meeting the highlight was safety and taking the Canada Safety Council ATV Training Course was strongly recommended. This seemed to be a very intelligent suggestion, and although I did not yet own an ATV, I made arrangements with the instructor to rent one and signed up for the upcoming course. I fully believed that studying my manual was virtually all I would probably be required to do, other than perhaps learning how the machine worked.

My manual arrived in the mail the week before the course and I diligently studied it as required before attending the all-day instruction class. I was assured the course was designed for anyone, experienced or not. The night before I double-checked my equipment list making sure th Students practice different maneuvers during a safety class. at all was in order, and my sparkling new helmet, gloves and riding clothes were all laid out.

Early the next morning I set out for the farmer’s field that was to be used for training. There were five students in the class, which is usually comprised of eight. I mounted the borrowed ATV and was shown how to operate it by the instructor. It was an old manual machine and I noticed that the other students were very familiar with the operation of their own top-of-the-line automatic machines. After brief instruction on the operation of my machine, I lined up with the others who were already in a row. We were told to turn our motors off in order to listen to the instructor. Though I was already nervous, I felt my heart race as I realized that I had forgotten what I had been told about operating the machine only a few minutes earlier. When the instructor told us to restart, I simply stared at the panel in front of me and drew a blank. I felt the panic starting to rise. Fortunately, the instructor saw my scared expression and immediately came over to help me. During the morning, he would do this time and time again. By lunchtime, I was ready to quit, not only because of my horrific performance up until then, but I began to worry that I was a distraction to the other students. I approached the instructor telling him this, and he simply said that he had never had a “quitter” and to keep on going.

While sitting in my car eating my lunch, it was all I could do to stop myself from running away. It had been a very difficult morning, but the afternoon was to be an even greater challenge. By now I could at least keep the ATV running and did know the correct operation of the gears, and had managed to keep up with the others in the field who were practicing figure 8’s, running through course exercises, and so on. But, the real test was yet to come as we began the afternoon lessons with sharp turns, stopping quickly and swerving, riding over obstacles (large logs), going up a hill and then stopping, manually pointing the ATV downward to descend and last, but not least, traversing. This included two wheels in a ditch and two on the side of the hill (all of this in a field full of mud). As I approached each of the exercises, I made sure that I was the last to go. First of all this allowed me to watch the others, and secondly, it took me that long to stop shaking and be able to ride. When I finally completed the last exercise of the 22 exercises in the program, I found it hard to believe that I had made it through the day still somewhat intact, but would not recover from the aches and pains of the experience for several more days. (It wasn’t until after that I discovered that the cou All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) await their riders at teh VIP Poker Ride in Logan lake, British Colombia. rse I attended was used in police training.)

Riders West magazine picked up the story I wrote about my experience, in which I diligently highlighted the “safety first” aspect of ATV riding, and they invited me to attend the VIP Poker Ride the following month as their correspondent. Delighted as I was to receive the invitation, my harrowing first experience was still fresh in my mind. Nevertheless, a month later I found myself in Logan Lake, B.C. with pen, pad and camera in hand, sitting on top of a brand new Kawasaki ATV courtesy of Kamloops Yamaha. I nearly missed the lineup for the VIP’s as I conscientiously took the requested photographs of as many participants as I could find. Fortunately, the Kamloops Yamaha hosts were safety minded enough to position me directly behind the Safety Chairman for the province, hoping to keep me safe from hazards on the 30 km ride. Once again, I was smartly outfitted, and you would not have guessed that I wasn’t really a pro. The day was hot, the trails dusty. Obstacles were clearly marked. All went well for a while but then all of a sudden we were on a very muddy rutted patch – there was a swamp to the left of me. I looked at this for a few seconds, but not wanting to delay those behind me, just went for it – the machine slid sideways, almost capsized – but not quite. I stopped, not knowing what to do. Experience had already taught me – when in doubt – do nothing, especially when the next movement would land me in the swamp. I called to the Safety Chairman who was already far ahead of me – he turned, looked back, smiled and said ‘hot day – ready for a swim’. Fortunately, my shiny new helmet hid the red rising in my face. Needless to say, my most in depth interview of the day was with the Logan Lake Search and Rescue Team.

British Columbia, Canada with its majestic mountains, evergreen forests, boundless lakes, streams and rivers, is a prime location for those who want to experience nature at its best and there is nothing better than riding an ATV in locations that are hard to reach by other means. My next ride, hundreds of feet up a local mountain, brought me face to face with not one, but two mother bears and cubs. I wasn’t even afraid.

**All Photos by Susan Carr